Looking to start working on my home network for Docker, media, and some general privacy and security. Not looking to spend thousands but I am just looking for a starting point or some general recommendations. Thanks!

I got a $200 Beelink Mini PC and it's ok. Plex is fine but I don't serve 4K videos. Gets hot running a Minecraft server. Might be worth trying a cheap one. Tons of brands out there.

I use Dell Optiplex micro PCs with i5-9500T cpu. There's a million of them on eBay. The 9500T is obviously not as power efficient as an N100 pc, but they've got a little more horsepower.

I also haven't had the greatest luck with Beelink PCs in the past...

What OS are you planning on running? Windows? Linux? Proxmox?

I was planning Linux or prox.

Currently using an MS-01 12600H for Quicksync transcoding. This video says the transcoding for AMD is nearing capability of Quicksync in speed. MS-A2 is the PC he's using and the processor is much faster than the processors available on the MS-01.

Believe Plex requires either Quicksync or Nvidia to do transcoding. That might have changed.

I have some other smaller MiniPCs that I've purchased and they can get pretty noisy.

If you are looking for a starting point, then get a Raspberry Pi for $35 - $120 (Depending on version and Ram) and download Raspberry Pi OS or another flavor of Linux that will run on the pi and go to town.

Unless you are doing video transcoding or gaming, the Raspberry Pi is more than capable.

Another option is just to get a VPS - Virtual Private Server on the internet and do everything on the web using a IDE like VS Code which can be setup to attach to your VPS.

I recommend Linode ( start @ $5 per month ) or Digital Ocean (start @ $4 per month), but if you want to go really cheap, go to Low End Box and get a VPS for like a $1 per month.

https://lowendbox.com/blog/1-vps-1-usd-vps-per-month/

If you go the VPS route, make sure you understand firewalls, SSH, and lock everything down so you don't get hacked. I have some running for years that continue to just run and run.

https://www.digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets#basic-droplets

https://www.linode.com/pricing/#compute-shared

Seriously consider Jellyfin over Plex. I've been using it for over a year and with tailscale I can stream my content to wherever I am. I'm using two mini PC's with proxmox as a cluster and my old desktop as a NAS. One of the mini PC's is a minisforum with N100 and the other is a gmktek with an AMD Ryzen 3 of some flavor.

KillerAg21 said:

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Looking to start working on my home network for Docker, media, and some general privacy and security. Not looking to spend thousands but I am just looking for a starting point or some general recommendations. Thanks!

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ARM is also an option. RK3588 chips are okay if you don't require 4k/8kyt decode and it's finally gotten some mainland kernel support in Linux. The chips are a bit expensive state side but the power usage is lower than the N100s in practicality if that matters. You're gonna have follow the instructions for flashing an OS on it though.

About a $120 + S/H for 8GB ram for an Orangepi 5 Plus. Plus I think some of these can be powered over ethernet.

Or just use a cheap old desktop/laptop if you have lying around for playing around with until you figure out what you need and what you want.

erudite said:

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Or just use a cheap old desktop/laptop if you have lying around for playing around with until you figure out what you need and what you want.

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That's what I use. It's an i5/3500K that was a pretty nice setup in a really quiet case with 12TB of storage that I back everything up to and watch video from. If nothing else it's easy to pick up another 2nd hand server hard drive and throw it in an empty bay, and keep on going when I need more redundancy or space.

I'd recommend an older Dell or HP server over a low end desktop PC. I had several refurbished Dell desktops that I used as servers for a while -- they were ones my dad discarded. I installed BSD or Linux on them. The software didn't crash but the machines went down often due to power issues.

My current file server, a ~2008/9 PowerEdge, hasn't been down in months. You can also get rack mount versions and racks often make good sense for space and expansion. I've paid between $25 and 40 for older PowerEdge machines on FB marketplace. You can get newer machines, obviously, for more, but for home use, it is unlikely you'll need anything newer than, say, 5-7 years. I haven't had the time to configure my ~2014 PowerEdge to do virtualization. Will probably get to it this fall.

Aren't the older Xeon ones total power hogs? I figured there was at least a certain point you'd want to buy up to because of that.

The Fife said:

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Aren't the older Xeon ones total power hogs? I figured there was at least a certain point you'd want to buy up to because of that.

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Maybe, but I don't think one or two servers in your house are going to have a big impact on your utility bill.

If you set up a mini-data center...

Here are some general recommendations. For media servers you might want something that supports inexpensive HDDs. You might want redundent disks if that media is important like family photos/videos. For firewalls you'll want something with dual network interfaces.

91AggieLawyer said:

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The Fife said:

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Aren't the older Xeon ones total power hogs? I figured there was at least a certain point you'd want to buy up to because of that.

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Maybe, but I don't think one or two servers in your house are going to have a big impact on your utility bill.

If you set up a mini-data center...

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At 13 cents per kwh, a server that averages 200W will cost about $225/year to run.

(And that's not counting the non-insignificant amount of heat it will generate)

MGS said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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The Fife said:

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Aren't the older Xeon ones total power hogs? I figured there was at least a certain point you'd want to buy up to because of that.

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Maybe, but I don't think one or two servers in your house are going to have a big impact on your utility bill.

If you set up a mini-data center...

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At 13 cents per kwh, a server that averages 200W will cost about $225/year to run.

(And that's not counting the non-insignificant amount of heat it will generate)

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Well at least you can use it as a space heater for the winter months... Until the power gets cut.

Any update on the ARM chips. Rockchip might be discontinuing the top of the line RK3588 for non-industrial vendors. Apparently they were going to get sanctioned by the US gov (?) for something. My guess probably ukraine related.

Have you had a positive experience with the Minisforum MS-01? I'm strongly considering the MS-A2 to replace my Dell r720 as I want something smaller and consumes less power.

Works fine for what I have it doing. Probably need to install more RAM. Config I got was only 32GB. Only had it a couple of months.

merlin403 said:

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Have you had a positive experience with the Minisforum MS-01? I'm strongly considering the MS-A2 to replace my Dell r720 as I want something smaller and consumes less power.

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If considering a minisforum, look at beelink. They are pretty much identical in quality and offer models with similar specs for alot cheaper usually.

MGS said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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The Fife said:

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Aren't the older Xeon ones total power hogs? I figured there was at least a certain point you'd want to buy up to because of that.

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Maybe, but I don't think one or two servers in your house are going to have a big impact on your utility bill.

If you set up a mini-data center...

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At 13 cents per kwh, a server that averages 200W will cost about $225/year to run.

(And that's not counting the non-insignificant amount of heat it will generate)

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I seriously doubt mine averages anywhere near 200W. I also felt the area it is in: no appreciable heat -- at least, not compared to other, similar areas.

What is the reported use by a machine you're looking at using? 100W? 50W? In an apples to apples comparison, you're still looking at half (or close to it) of that $225 IF it were accurate (which I don't think it is).

Use whatever you want. I just did an uptime check on mine: 335 days. I probably should have taken it down a time or two during that period for updates, etc., but I didn't. You won't get a third of that with a normal desktop PC. I've tried several of them.